HEY My blog has moved to shesjustjealous.blogspot.com

'Toe-tally old!!'

So the other night I made a 9:00 p.m. kid-less Target run, which is like a trip to the dayspa for me these days, and as I was perusing through some t-shirts I overheard a couple of what looked like teen age girls having a conversation to which they were referencing a third party. Not really paying attention to the context of the conversation, I heard one of the girls ask, so how old she?" and her friend responded, "like 33 or 34", to which the girls replied..."oh, so she's totally old, you will for sure get the job over her!"
Obviously these two girls had no idea what potential emotional damage they had just caused to this 'old' woman, but it caused me to panic... am I that girl? Am I the mom on "Mean Girls" who dresses like her 15 year old? I started wondering if I need to act, dress, and shop more my age... Am I too old to be still shopping in the Juniors department? What about my fabulous gold glitter toes? Not to mention my secret viewings of "Saved by the Bell" reruns. I admit, I am not without fault when it comes to judging other women whom I think are acting "too young". But why? Why are we so are hard on each other? At what age do we have to act our age? And why is it that the same expectation doesn't exist for men. We all know the guy (perhaps live with one) who plays with his kids remote controlled cars more than his kids. Or wears his favorite team jersey that is way to small as he watches his team play on t.v. Or like our recent family 24th of July get-together where Bryan and my brother-in-law Carter spared no expense on making sure they had the "coolest" fireworks display. The difference? The guys get off the hook with, "Oh ya, he's my third kid", or "isn't it cute that he is still a little boy at heart!"
Not with us ladies... we are the first to impose our 'age appropriate' expectations on each other.
So again, I ask myself, at what age do we have to start acting our age?
I think I found my answer
The other night Bry and I took Camryn and my mom to the Washington County Fair. As a kid this was a highly anticipated three day event for me. Our parents would drop us off and we would stay until it closed. I relished every minute of the fair, the dry heat, carmel apples, cotton candy, tiger's blood snow cones and the 'boy stalking' that would, with any luck end up with a ride on the ferris wheel by the end of the fair on Saturday night.
I haven't been to the Fair since I was a teen ager and the minute I stepped on the fairground I felt like I was 13 again. But it wasn't just me. My 35 year old husband and 72 year old mother were 13 again as well. Mom couldn't wait to get her cotton candy, and Bryan spent way too much money trying to win the 'impossible' gigantic stuffed Zebra for Camryn (and for himself), only to end up bargaining with the Carny worker to get three itty bitty stuffed animals in exchange for the slightly larger than itty bitty one that he gained!
Amidst all the noise, dust and 'redneckedness' I noticed one thing. Everyone--kids, teenagers, old moms, young moms, middle aged dads, and yes grandmas, had the same look in their eyes. They had all been there before and no matter how long they had been alive and what kind of life they had, they were all kids and not even trying to fight it.
Even though in my heart I was back in my youth, there were a few reminders that I am not. The carmel apple I envisioned all day nearly pulled out one of my fillings and subsequently went in the trash. When I got to the front of the line to the ferris wheel (that I used to ride over and over) I chickened out and left my mom to take Camryn (which was too cute for words). The cotton candy made me sick and I had to sit down every 15 minutes cause my feet hurt. The tigers blood snow cone, however, still rocked.
So I have concluded that there is enough in this life to remind me that I am longer physically in my youth. So for now, I am keeping my glitter toes and I will continue to shop like a teenager. I will continue to have tickle parties with Camryn and listen to my Justin Timberlake CD.
The A.C. Slater poster however, might need to go.

Just to 'Summer" it all up...

I have decided that my blogging habits are much like my exercise habits. If I allow a week to go by without doing it, I convince myself to not even bother with the rest of the week and "start on Monday". Well, now that most of the Mondays of the summer have come and gone I am here and finally typing...the exercising, well, I will start with that on Monday of course!

We are moving back to St. George in six days. Crazy. I have mixed feelings about leaving. Of course I love St. George...family and great friends there, but I LOVE our life here in Draper and I will greatly miss my friends here. With our moving history we should be back in a year or two though. (Bry would not find that comment amusing)

I really do plan on being more consistent in chronicling our life once we get settled, but for now here's some highlights of our last summer in Draper!

MAY--Preschool program

One thing I will really miss here is Summit Acadamy. Camryn loved her teachers and learned to love reading books and singing. I will never forget the image of watching her cute little body trot up the sidewalk in her uniform (shoes always on the wrong feet) hand in hand with her favorite teacher Miss Mackenzie, always looking back to blow me a kiss.

TAYLOR JANE

Chubby legs. Chubby feet. Chubby hands. Chubby face. Big toothy smiles. Four neck rolls that she hates kissed. Perfect.

JULY!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

two minutes of Spring...

and that's exactly what it has felt like here in mid freakin' April... two minutes!!
It serves me right for putting away all the winter clothes and breakin' out the capris and flip flops. I have had to visit the basement storage room a few times now and dig through the bins for some warm clothes, including scarves...yes SCARVES! You would think of the now 10 years I have lived in Northern Utah, it would sink in that winter can last until June 1st, but for some reason all those years growing up in St. George and literally having a great tan by the end of April still keeps me in denial.

Honestly, I have been anticipating warm weather, not just for the comfort of warm weather, but also as some motivation to get outside with my girls and less time curled up on the couch with my wool socks on watching re-runs of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and numerous Lifetime movies (of course all while doing mentally stimulating crafts with Camryn)...she can now name all three Kardashian sisters! I know, I am an amazing mom.

We did capitalize on the few nice days we have had by doing some yard work. While Bry and I were puttering around pulling weeds and potting plants Camryn decided to do her own 'pruning' by digging up all the tulips!!

Do-do-do-do....Dora?

Okay, so I remember in my 'pre-kids' days and what an idiot I was. I remember going to lunch and listening to my friends (who had kids) discussing all the different 'kid shows' or singing theme songs to cartoons and thinking to myself that would never be me. I would never allow myself to get to a point where the majority of conversations during my day would revolve around 'kid stuff'. Well, here I am a few years later and I want to know... WHAT THE *&*% HAPPENED TO DORA!!

Today, the new and apparently 'improved' Dora was unveiled on the news, yes, the news! She is supposed to be a 'tween' now, around ten-years-old. Now I will agree, she is pretty cute and obviously not going through the 'awkward' phase, that most tweens do, but WHY?!! Mickey mouse never aged, Sleeping Beauty never aged, so what is the purpose behind this new Dora who looks nothing like an "Explorer". No backpack, no map, no clothes conducive to doing all the cool stuff that the Dora we have come to know and love does! Now she looks more like one of the 'Bratz' dolls that look like little divas and are the antithesis of what we want our little girls to grow up to be.

Ok. I am done, just needed to vent about this major travesty and now I am off to do more 'adult', and less juvenile things... like write my complaint letter to Nickelodeon !!!
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NEEDED: Vacation from the Vacation

Well we have officially been home a full week from our week-long vacation to Palm Springs with the Osborn clan and I have only one bag (out of about eight) left to unpack. Unfortunately it was one that was left way too long... the culprit; one wet swimsuit that I forgot had been 'thrown' in (a 'Bryan' packed bag), and the smell of mildew was enough for me to throw it directly in the garbage. Yes, the meaning of the word vacation completely changes when you decide to take kids... in fact it shouldn't even be called a vacation, it needs its own name. Maybe something like, "departure from home for extended period of time to a different, more scenic place, to do the same things like wipe bums and care for screaming babies, as you would do at home, only with a much happier disposition." A little lengthy, but much more appropriate.

So yes, I am now ready for a real vacation. You know, the kind where you actually get to sit and read at least three chapters in a row from the book you brought, the kind where you go out to nice dinners with your hubby with whom you fall in love with all over again and you remind him as well of the 'funny, laid back, cool girl' he married and not the over-stressed, naggy, scrunchy-wearing (Ok that's a little overboard) **tch he comes home to now. I will say one thing... when I get this 'vacation' I promise to relish every moment of it as if it were the last!!

Now just because this wasn't the most relaaaxing trip, we did have a wonderful time and couldn't have been with a better group of peeps. I happen to be incredibly lucky to have the coolest in-laws around. My two sister-in-laws are some of my best friends and my adorable nieces and nephews are Camryn's 'very best friends' as she calls them. The weather was unbeatable, the pool time watching Camryn was unforgettable, and the day at Disneyland (minus the Sleeping Beauty Castle experience that scared the pee, literally, out of our already highly anxious three-year -old) was fabulous!!

okay so I hate to go overboard posting pictures of my girls... but these are just too darn cute to not brag just a little bit. I have blog stalked Holly (hollyokeefecreative.com) for awhile now and finally had to stop looking at her posts so much cause they were beginning to make me feel like a pretty unproductive mom, wife, and person in general. Ok I exaggerate a little, but seriously this girl is amazingly talented and so when I discovered she started doing photography I jumped on it and was not disappointed! I was hoping to not find her as 'amazing' as I imagined her to be, you know, to make myself feel better, but she was and she did a fantastic job! I am truly grateful for amazing yet down-to-earth women like this in the world!

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Cameron Court Jr.

Today marks the four year anniversary that we lost an incredible person in our lives. Bryan's best friend Cameron Court died suddenly in a snowbiling trip on their annual guys trip to Jackson Hole, WY

Here is a journal entry written by my sweet husband in the days following the accident. Cam was an incredibly special person in many people's lives... so much in ours that we named our first little girl after him.

This time of year is always very difficult when I think back to the tragic loss of my best friend. I have decided to share a journal entry that I made shortly after the accident. I miss my friend every day and am so blessed to have such a great family and group of friends to lean on during this difficult time.This is merely a recap of events on the tragic day of Feb 4th 2005, a day many of us will never forget. Feb 1st, 2005This was the last time that I saw Cam alive. Cam came over to my house in Draper, Utah in the evening to see my new puppy Max. Cam also brought over his dog Alta. Janalyn was not home and Cam came alone. Its funny how those couple hours at the time seemed so irrelevant, and now they also bring me so much peace. We laughed and talked about different things in our lives, Cam was very proud to show me how he taught Alta to dance with him by jumping up on Cam’s back and wrapping his paws around Cam’s waist and doing the Cha-Cha! Truthfully I don’t remember what we talked about that evening other than logistical plans on going to Jackson Hole, WY. However, I do remember giving him a hard time about not coming with us on Thursday the 3rd to do some skiing before our annual friends snowmobile trip. He told me that he had too much school and work which did not sound like Cam, but apparently he was taking it much more serious than I knew. Feb 3rd, 2005Jon Baclayon, Shawn Cheney and I left early on Thurs the 3rd of February to do some skiing in Teton Village, WY before the snowmobile trip. Once we got to Jackson we realized that the snow was not as good as it was in Utah so we decided not to waste the money, and didn’t end up skiing at all. Instead we went into the city of Jackson Hole and had some lunch waiting for the others to arrive and pick up the rental snowmobiles in town. Brandon Fairbanks, Brandon Woolston, Jim Horton and Rich Tripp all showed up around 6pm and we met them at the same place where we had rented the snowmobiles in the past. After we got all of our snowmobiles and finished our last bit of food shopping in town, we headed 30 miles away to the Hoback Ranches. For years now we have been going to Brandon Fairbanks cabin, snowmobiling, hunting or some of the best fly-fishing in the Western U.S. Once we arrived at the cabin and got everything unloaded, we all sat around, ate food and played poker ‘til the late hours of the night. We called Cam late that night and he assured us that he would be leaving Salt Lake early on Friday Feb the 4th in order to get here in time to do a full day of snowmobiling, his intentions were to meet us at the cabin around 9 – 10am. We all knew that Cam would be late because Cam went by his own watch. Feb 4th, 2005We woke up around 9 am to one of the most beautiful mornings that I can remember. There was not a cloud in the sky, and a blanket of fresh white powder. Jon Baclayon woke up a little earlier than everyone else to make his famous spam and eggs breakfast. While we were eating around 10am the phone rang. I picked it up knowing it was Cam. Very typical of Cam, without even saying hello, he went into about a minute and a half of singing. Cam knew that I loved his music, but also knew that I lack patience; therefore he would always begin a phone conversation with a song just to bug me. I even remember holding the phone cord and letting the receiver dangle for about a minute until he was finished. Finally when he was done singing we both had a good laugh. He told me that he was in Coalville, UT; which meant that he was still about three hours away. He laughed and told me that he had a panicked message from Rich pleading with him to go to Rich’s brothers house to bring an XBOX video game up to the cabin. Cam apparently did not get this message until he was well past Park City. When he did get the message, he turned around and went back to Salt Lake to get the game, therefore causing his tardiness. The ironic thing is that Cam didn’t even like video games, but he did not want to disappoint. Cam then assured me that he was coming straight to the cabin and told us to meet him there at lunch and instructed us to leave him a snowmobile and helmet in the parking lot at the bottom of the canyon. This was the last time any of us spoke to Cam. After finishing up our breakfast, we all got bundled up in our snowmobiling gear and left for a morning ride. We rode down to the highway and set a snowmobile and helmet next to my car for Cam. We set out on a beautiful three-hour ride across the highway where we normally ride. Around 1:30 to 2:00pm we decided to start heading back to the cabin to meet Cam for lunch. Brandon Woolston and I went to my car on the highway to get the food for lunch and I noticed that Cam’s car was next to mine, and his snowmobile was gone. I remember being excited that Cam had arrived and figured that he was waiting for us at the cabin. We then drove the three-mile ride through the snow to the cabin. I noticed that when we arrived, Cam’s snowmobile was not there. I really didn’t think anything about it at the time, knowing Cam, he was off on a ride looking at the beautiful surroundings; it was a perfect blue-sky day. We all eventually ended up at the cabin for lunch, while choking down our partially frozen “lunchables,” everyone remarked that Cam was not at the cabin but we knew that he was here because we saw his car. We waited about ten to fifteen minutes figuring that he was out looking at some deer or on a leisure-ride and he would be pulling up any minute. The thought then crossed our mind that Cam could be stuck in the snow somewhere between here and the car. This would not be an uncommon event, seeing that the majority of us, Cam included were average riders at best. In fact, we generally spend at least half of the time digging someone out of a large powder hole to get going again.Shawn Cheney decided that he would ride back down to the car to see if he could find Cam and help him out if needed. Nobody was even worried at this time because this was a very common event. Shawn brought a two-way radio with him so he could tell us if he needed more help digging out his snowmobile. I personally didn’t even think he was stuck in the snow, I was sure that he was out taking in natures beauty because that was what Cam would do.Around 2:15pm Shawn radioed in and told us that Cam may have been involved in an accident but was not sure. We were all immediately concerned and were praying that this was not the case. The messages from Shawn continued to worsen as he radioed from the highway. Shawn was down next to the car and an ambulance or two pulled up as well as a couple of police cars. Shawn started getting reports that a man in his mid twenties on a black Polaris snowmobile was the victim of this accident. We still had no idea what had really happened. The rest of us frantically got re-dressed in our snowmobile gear and hurried down to the highway. I remember riding extremely fast down to the highway to see what had happened. I thought that at the very worst, Cam had broken a leg or clavicle. I remember feeling very bad for Cam thinking that he had wrecked Brandon Fairbanks snowmobile and would not be able to afford the repairs. I was already planning the trip in my head with Cam to the hospital in Jackson Hole for some broken bones. Not once did the thought ever cross my mind that the situation was grave.I was the first one down the canyon, and I remember making the last turn around the hill and seeing the highway littered with police cars and a couple of ambulances. My heart immediately dropped in my stomach. As I approached all of the vehicles I had a terrible feeling come over me. I jumped off of my snowmobile and threw off my helmet only to see Shawn with his hands in his face sobbing. I’ve known Shawn my whole life and I know that no amount of broken bones in Cam’s body would make Shawn cry. I’ll never forget looking at Shawn’s face with red eyes and snot running out of his nose as he muttered the most painful words I have ever heard; “Cam’s dead!” I immediately looked to my left and saw a body with a blanket over it lying on a sled. I have never been so scared in my entire life, praying that this was not really happening. I knelt down and peeled back the blanket only to see my best friend lying lifeless on a sled in Wyoming. His body was still warm and he was the same Cam with a scruffy beard and long ragged hair, only he was not breathing. The next twenty minutes or so were somewhat of a blur. I remember hearing a lot of crying and sobbing coming from the rest of the group as they pulled up to the same horrible site. There were now a lot more cop cars and by-standers wondering what in the world had happened. After filling out police reports and answering as many questions as we could answer I walked back to Cam’s body by myself, wondering what we were going to do. At that time I had a very strong spiritual experience and comfort come over me, I knew that Cam’s spirit was still lingering with us at that time. It’s very hard to explain, but it almost felt peaceful. I even felt guilty at the time for not being more hysterical. I remember hearing over and over in my head: “Please try and be strong for now, your time to mourn will be later”. I didn’t know why I kept hearing this until I had a very ugly thought enter my head; his family, friends and girlfriend Andrea had no idea what had happened! This was a very painful thought because I knew how much pain this news was going to cause. At that same time a female police officer approached me with her cell phone and told me that it would be a good idea to tell his parents. She informed me that the local police in Salt Lake would be getting the wire soon and would be delivering this horrible news to his family in person fairly soon. We all felt that it would be a good decision for me to call his family and to hear it from us rather than a police officer that might not have the proper information at the time. I really struggled with this phone call, I even dialed the number a couple of times, heard Cam’s mom Diane answer, then hung-up without saying a word. Eventually I gave the phone back to the officer and decided that I needed a little more time before making the call, I simply could not do it at this particular time. The coroner then showed up and explained to me that he was going to take Cam’s body to Pinedale, WY and then bring it to Salt Lake in a couple of days. I remember trying to explain to the coroner and police officers that we didn’t need a coroner and we would take Cam’s body back to Salt Lake to a local mortuary. I obviously wasn’t thinking straight and eventually had an officer pull me aside and explain to me that this was obviously not a legal option. To me, he was still “Cam”, in my mind nothing really had changed except that he was not breathing. I wanted to take care of him, keep him with us and bring him back to his family where he belonged. We eventually lifted Cam’s lifeless body into the vehicle and watched as one of our best friends was driven away to a small town in Wyoming. This was the most gut-wrenching, terrible feeling that I have felt in my entire life. I then got back on my snowmobile and drove the longest 3 miles back to the cabin that I can ever remember. Once at the cabin, nobody said a word. Rich, Shawn, Brandon Woolston and I quickly packed our things and loaded them onto our snowmobiles, we were going home. Rich and I went in my car and were followed by Brandon and Shawn who had agreed to drive Cam’s car back to Salt Lake. The only smile that I can remember on that day came when Shawn turned Cam’s car on and Michael Jackson was blaring in the CD player in the car. I can picture Cam very vividly, driving through the country singing to Michael Jackson at the top of his lungs! We then filed into the two vehicles and started the long trek back to Salt Lake. I knew that I had to call his family now and deliver the tragic news that would forever change their lives. I pressed the “Onstar” button in my Chevy Trailblazer because I lacked cell phone coverage. The operator then connected me to 801-942-2629. This is the same number that I have dialed for the past 20 years to see if my buddy Cam could play, now I’m having to tell the people who love Cam the most that he will not be coming back home. When I was finally connected and Diane answered, once again I hung-up, lacking the courage to deliver the news. Rich then made me pull the car over, gather myself, and my thoughts to make the call again. Diane answered again with a very happy “Hello”, just the sound of her voice made it very difficult to even breath, I had no idea what to say, or how to put this into words. Finally I said, “Diane, this is Ozzy, I’m sorry but there has been an accident and Cam is dead”. Now being removed from the situation I can think of many different ways to break this news that may be more tactful, but at the time, I was just doing whatever I could to force these words out of my mouth. Diane was obviously hysterical and kept repeating “Ozzy, please tell me it isn’t true”, she then ended the very brief conversation by saying that she had to call his father Cam Sr. right now. The next 300 or so miles were very painful; I remember having very mixed emotions. On one hand, I wanted to be with his family to help them in any way that I could, on the other hand, I was afraid of seeing this incredibly happy family in the utter depths of despair. This was the longest drive that I can ever remember. We eventually arrived at the Court home to a multitude of people who all love Cam very much, trying to make sense of few tidbits of information that they had received to this point. I then explained every detail that I could remember, that may help in some way to make sense of what happened earlier in the day. After spending a few more hours at the Court home, I drove back to my house to be with my wife. I remember feeling incredibly grateful for Janalyn and her love. I was exhausted and fell right to sleep around 2:00 AM, the next feeling I had was the absolute worst feeling that I have ever had. I woke up around 7:00 A.M. and the strength from Cam that I had felt the day before had completely left. The reality of the situation had finally hit me, Cam really died!I was hysterical for the next few weeks my brother Carter, my father Dwight and by brother-in-law Eric Smith all came over the morning of the 5th to give me a blessing. I knew at this moment that everything that happened the day before was real, and that these events would forever change my life. Even now, three months removed from Feb 4th, the pain is still there and I imagine it always will be there. I am definitely starting to laugh a lot more when I think of Cam, and the thought that gives me the most peace is that I know that I will see him again someday! Cam, the best way that I can express my feelings to you is simply that I miss you. My wife and I found out on the night of Cam's funeral that she was pregnant, on Oct 7th 2005 we had a little girl and appropriately named her "Camryn". Via con Dios!!!Bryan “Ozzy” Osborn

DESPERATION!!

After countless hours researching on the internet, perusing countless "Parenting" magazines, and many conversations with other moms, I have finally found the trick to get Camryn to sleep in her own bed. I tried to steer clear of the whole 'bribing' thing, and to be honest, before this new baby came into our world, I didn't mind her sleeping with us... in fact I even started enjoying our little cuddle sessions at night and her warm little body next to me. Nevertheless, we were warned. Everyone told us we would regret this habit when the baby came... and well they were all right, so there you go all of you who forewarned us, go ahead and say it... "I TOLD YOU SO!"

One of Camryn's most endearing traits is also her the root of this problem... her creative imagination. She is convinced there is a wicked stepmother and an evil queen living in her closet and we have tried everything to get rid of them her including sprays, spells, and even trying to convince her that they are 'really just nice little old ladies.' Well if you have seen "Sleeping Beauty" or "Cinderella" there is no way anyone, even a three year old would buy that philosophy!

Anyway, I don't know how I didn't think of this idea, knowing how much Camryn loves presents, but a good friend of mine suggested a 'present basket' that sits outside her door and each morning she gets to open one if she stays in her bed. We took her to the dollar store and let her pick out some toys and I wrapped them up and WALA!! That was all it took!

While I am very happy that she is on a decent routine and feeling safe in her room, I have to admit...

I miss the cuddles.

TAYLOR JANE~

Well she is here folks...and geez I can't believe how much pressure I have been under

( mostly from myself) to post a blog and some pics... so now that I can sit for longer than two minutes without my inflatable donut, which by the way saved me for the last two weeks, and I am down to my last percocet, which also saved me for the last two weeks, what a better time to blog.

I felt it was better to wait till the post pregnancy hormones dissipated a little because I found myself doing something similar to "drunk dialing" the last two weeks where I would just randomly call a friend or sister-in -law (Janice) and start bawling about who knows what. Janice was the victim of these outbursts a few times and I thank her for calming me down and telling me I was not responsible for anything I said during this hormonal overload!

Anyway, I am already too tired to write another sentence so here are some HIGH and LOW lights from the first two-weeks post baby!!

*high... My awesome Mom who saved my butt by being here the first week home and well... enough said... saved my butt!!!

*low... Uterus shrinking pains... (too much information?)

*high...the wonderful meals and visits from friends and neighbors

*low... TUCKS (need I say more)

*high... Camryn dressing in onesies and other outfits for the baby... (also dressing herself for school.) Neglect in rare form!

*high... My awesome nieces Lyndsi and Bree for helping me out so much with Camryn!

*high (and low) My husband, who decided he was meant to be a lactation specialist attempting to show me how to get a good "latch" and suggesting the "football hold" from all the "reading" he'd been doing on breastfeeding. Annoying. Endearing.

*low... middle of the night feedings

*high... middle of the night feedings

Although I still feel like I am in some sort of twilight zone and I wonder how people survive with more than two kids, I am so overwhelmed with love and gratitude for this little baby who has already brought so much peace and love into our home. It is definitely a new adventure for us and I hope I can remember to relish each moment because I know how fast it goes by.

Camryn capitalized on my new distraction and dressed herself for school... DCFS should be calling any day now!

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"Is Christmas Over?"

Well it is Sunday, December 28th which makes it 3 days post Christmas and the third day in a row that Camryn has asked, "Mommy, is Christmas over?" I am assuming that until the tree and Christmas remnants are gone, she will continue to think it is still a party everyday and that mommy doesn't get out of her p.j's till...well never, and daddy is home watching football everyday and playing with her in the snow whenever she wants. Frankly I am okay with this because this poor kid's world is about to be rocked not only with the end of the holidays, but also with a new baby in the house so we might as well let her live it up now!

Bry got her and her American doll matching dresses for Christmas when he was in NYC a few weeks ago and she was so excited to go to church today with her doll... so cute!

Christmas dance recital

Camryn and her cousin Halle were in the same dance recital this year and for as much work as it is to get them all dressed up, sit through the rehearsals and not really know if they will even know what is going on when the curtain goes up...it was TOTALLY worth it! They were so darn cute and of course Camryn just loved the spotlight and kept waving at the audience until the curtain closed!

My camera broke right before the performance so here's a pic from Janice of Halle and Camryn after their big shot in the spotlight!

Camryn saves Christmas!!

Ahhhh.... Christmas through the eyes and mind of a 3 year old. She has saved Christmas for her mommy. As tired, swollen, road ragin', uncomfortable and flat out tired as I am, the last couple of weeks as the Christmas season has come into full swing, Camryn has reminded me of the magic of the season. I don't know if it is just the perfect age or what, but I don't ever want to forget the precious things she says and does everyday that remind what it's all about! Here are just a few...

*Telling Santa when she sat on his lap... "Shhh Santa, be very gentle."

*Saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone in the checkout lanes and making them smile.

*Reminding me more than a few times during the day, "Mom, I am being good for goodness
sakes!!"

*Asking Bryan and I every night to take her to see all the "magic Christmas houses" which basically means all the houses on our street with any sort of inflatable Christmas character in the front yard.

*Telling me at the end of a very long day... "mommy, I had such a good time shopping with you today at the Walmart store!"

*When I need to lay down during the day and she comes and softly touches my belly and says..."Is your baby hurting you again?..."


Thank you for saving Christmas baby girl!!!

Da-da-da-DA!! And his response was....

exactly what I thought it would be...
except he didn't direct his anger at me surprisingly. He was really ticked off at the "sales guy" who "took advantage of his beautiful pregnant wife" okay, he didn't say beautiful... but I know he meant to.
Anyway, he ranted about how he wouldn't pay it and I think he even mentioned getting "Gephardt" if he needed to and at that point I couldn't take it anymore and let him in on the joke. He didn't think it was funny until the next day.
Good job Shawn and Brandon!!

"IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE"

So as I have mentioned in previous posts, I have been more than unmotivated to get into the hustle and bustle of the holiday, decorate my house, shop, offer random acts of service, etc. So I actually have an excuse... I am freakin' 8 months pregnant. My husband on the other hand, whom I love madly, unfortunately does not have this excuse and his 'to-do' list is gathering dust on my magnet board. For the past two weeks I have placed this list very conspicuously so he would not be confused as to what needs to be done before this baby comes in 5 weeks.
To fully appreciate how incredibly funny the joke is that is about to be played on him in a few hours, a little history is needed.
Bry loves Christmas lights. Lots and lots of lights. It is usually top priority this time of year for him to get lights up. Well it has been a bit crazy the past few weeks and so when he mentioned that he needed to get the lights up I suggested to him that the priority right now needs to be the nursery, household projects and suggested that I find someone to pay to put them up. He reluctantly agreed and adamantly said no when he found out they would charge $400.00 to do it, so therefore it hasn't been done and then he took off for New York for 4 days on business. This is where it gets really good. Bry has an incredible tight knit, wonderful group of friends who are just so cool as to invite me to come to dinner with all the couples even when Bry is gone. So at dinner two nights ago I was complaining a little about how much we have to do yadayada, and how he didn't want to pay to have the lights put up and so forth. Well two of his buddies, Brandon and Shawn got this great idea that they were going to come and put up our lights and then leave a fake invoice for an absurd amount of money. They instructed me to play along and tell him some guy was going around the neighborhood offering to put up lights and that Camryn was begging for lights and I just gave in and said yes.
So sure enough they showed up yesterday and hung the lights and as Camryn sat on the grass and watched them Shawn kept telling her it was a "Christmas Miracle" that the lights were being put up and she kept repeating it the rest of the day..."Mommy, daddy's friends came and gave us Christmas miracle!" They also left this fake invoice for a total cost of $613.18.
So Bry gets home from his trip in about two hours and I must admit I am getting a little scared as to his initial reaction... I don't know if I can go along with it for even a second, but for a good laugh down the road I will do my best.
Stay tuned for how it all turns out and I must say, even though these two tough guys say their intention is to play a joke on Bry...it still was the sweetest act of service and I for one truly appreciate it and love them for it!!

THANKSGIVING 2008

As much as I hated to post this picture...(you know an 8th month pregnant woman holding an enormous stuffed turkey can never be flattering) I just couldn't refrain from plain old bragging about the one productive thing I did over the holiday in St. George... my turkey.

Of course I can't take all the credit... the beautiful blonde next to me and my dearest friend Stacy taught me all I know about the preparation of this delicious turkey that I have made the last three years for Thanksgiving. One can only appreciate the feat of this turkey by understanding my lack of culinary skills growing up and even until I got married. Most of my high school friends, mission companions and college roomies can attest to this. However, since I was blessed with Stacy in my life about 5 years ago, she has not only been my own personal Martha Stewart... the girl can seriously do just about anything and make it beautiful, but she has been the greatest example to me of selflessness, patience, unconditional love and kindness. Even during the very difficult times of her life she will her put own pain aside and help anyone in need. I have witnessed her countless acts of kindness, that she just views as 'being a good friend' countless times and many times, I have been the recipient, like this weekend in St. George, when I had not an ounce of energy to do anything, let alone prepare a turkey and pies for my family, she saved me and helped me get it done.

I am grateful for so many things this holiday season, but especially those people in my life who are just so much a part of my life and day to day living and spirtual and emotional survival that I almost take advantage of them being there.

Bring on the Castor oil!!!!

Okay so I am really not going to drink Castor oil to get this baby out early, mainly because Bryan made me try it a week before I was due with Camryn...one of his many
'Farkus' experiments and of course it only caused 3 days of the 'you know whats'... and 3 days of the silent treatment towards him.
I have about five weeks left and I have been trying to figure out why this last stretch seems so much harder than it was the first time. I am blaming it on it being the holidays. Usually I love the hustle and bustle and the planning and get togethers and just the whole craziness of the month of December. But lately I find myself just driving aimlessly throughout the day, or parked in Mcdonalds parking lot (ok, with maybe a happy meal...or two) just to avoid all the 'decorating, shopping, nursery finishing, cleaning, and organizing' I should be doing, but have no energy for. BUT... today is a new day and so after a little inspiration from a post by my sister-in-law Janice on her blog, I am just going to buck up and choose to not spend my last five weeks eating cheeseburgers and instead of resenting that I can't be the superwoman, superwife, and supermom I want to be... I am just going to simplify--relish the moments of the season prepare for our new baby and just be grateful for life!